30 November 2011

I cannot believe November is over - that was SO fast! It's surprising how 2011 has gone by in a blink of an eye though, and I almost feel like monthly favourites are to blame cuz I look forward to the end of the month so much :P NAUGHTY!

Anyway, have put together a video of my favourites as usual ;) Hope you guys like it!

I know November JUST ended, but I've been internally celebrating since the 5th of November fireworks finished.. Evidence:

Gingerbread Man Christmas Ornament from Harrod's - £4.95

Biscuiteers Reindeer Biscuit - was a gift ;)

Christmas Pudding Mug from Sainsbury's - £3.95-ish

Honestly though, I really enjoyed November. I saw my friends from high school, my boyfriend's parents' and sister came to visit us, we went to see his aunt in Kent, I met up with Emma and Anna, I went to several events, I met some academically significant people that I wont name because I'll just look ridiculously lame and nerdy, I rode on the London Ghost Bus Tour (?!) anddddd I got to experience an internship interview!

28 November 2011

About a year ago I wrote about the worst make-up wipes I've ever tried - the Superdrug cucumber wipes. But I'm guessing I'm not alone in saying I've tried about 10 different kinds of make-up wipes and I'm always up for new brands, and it genuinely depends on my financial state or which is the nearest pack when I'm in store and realise I need more.

As dramatic as it sounds, I didn't really think make-up wipes could be perfect until I tried these - you never instinctively think about the different aspects of the wipes, as long as it takes your make-up off at the end of the day. But as the year's gone on, I'm now pleased to say I've found the other end of the spectrum! I can now write about the BEST make-up wipes ever:

E.L.F Studio Make-up Remover Cleansing Cloths

Like I said earlier, you never think about the different aspects of make-up wipes until you realise they ALL hit the nail on the head like this one does! It's seriously the right moistness without being too wet, the cloth is so soft and never scratchy or have clumped up bits, and the packaging is so sleek and very effective because the lid is so easy to shut and open the lids. There's no faffing with stickers that lose their sticky-power, and the next sheet never awkwardly sticks out when you've pulled out the one at the top.

So what about what it's actually meant to do? I can say that these wipes remove 98% of my make up on the first go. I could never see make-up left on my Liz Earle muslin cloth, and the wipes are soft enough to lightly rub on eyelashes to get mascara out (granted I used non-waterproof mascaras!), AND the eyeliner in between eyelashes - actually insane! :P

In fact, sometimes when I used these, I actually forgot to use face wash because it felt so clean and nourished, and there is no residue whatsoever - no shine, no greasyness or wetness! This is obviously very handy on the drunken/late nights ;)

I think the only issue with this product is the same issue with the rest of ELF's products for us in the UK - you can only get it online. The product itself at 20 wipes for £3.50 isn't the cheapest of make-up wipes, and if we don't want anything else from the ELF site, you're looking at paying about £3 for shipping - they're great make-up wipes, but not £7 great! So really the best way to go about it is to stock-up when there's a free shipping offer (usually a minimum spend of £10), or if you're already shopping about on their site :)

26 November 2011

It's closing towards the end of the month, and I thought I'd do a little collective haul series each month to show you guys what I've gotten! :) Being a person that shops bits and bobs, I hardly ever do big hauls so hopefully this will fill the gap ;) That being said, I'm also a forgetful person, so I may have forgotten bits.. next month I will keep an exhaustive list if you guys like this series!

This month I've decided to include my Glossybox* in (whether I'll do this next month Idk! - let me know what you think), because it's a monthly thing and I thought it fit in well for now. But I do want to clarify that this section isn't REALLY a haul, cuz the team are lovely enough to have sent me the box for consideration - so thank you to the Glossybox team!

Anyway, enough jibber jabber - here's my haul! :)

Geez, and I honestly felt restrained this month! I thought I'd wait til the end to tell you - I was actually on a self-inflicted 3 make-up product ban! :P How much of a fail was THAT?! Oh well, another attempt starts in 4 days..

25 November 2011

Loose powder and I are not often friends, and they are probably the one thing I steer clear from when I'm in a store, but when Lumiere Cosmetics were looking for people to sample their goodies, I thought - why not?

They were kind enough to tailor what they sent me to what I wanted, and I ended up with 3 eyeshadows, 2 foundations and 3 blusher/bronzers. My favourite of the lot are the eyeshadows - they are absolutely gorgeous! You can see the three and a blusher below..

I was so impressed at how blendable and soft the eyeshadows look compared to pressed ones. In this particular look, I love how seamlessly Bon Bon melts into the light mocha Cappuccino shade. In real life, the contrast is much stronger (as you can probably see in the product pictures above), but it somehow still manages to look so soft, which I think would be difficult with pressed eyeshadows!

These were so easy to work with, pigmented and finely-milled and uncrumbly. The powder picked up easily, and there was no fall out once you tapped your brush a few times into the lid. Even after initially placing the powder, it was still blendable so you can blend it out into a shape you want :) The two shades also blended together nicely and created a natural, soft gradiation!

Now the blusher and foundation were the things I couldn't warm to. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get the majority of the colour to move from where I first lay it. So after I was done blending, I would still have one area darker than the others because that was where my brush touched first. However, I will persevere! If anyone has any tips, please do let me know! :)

On the topic of face products, however, I did a bit of experimenting! If you notice the glow that I've got going on, you'll be surprised that I had a fairly matte foundation on, but decided to experiment with the stark matte white Vanilla Bean eyeshadow as a highlight, after the soft glow it created on my brow bone. It manages to turn out relatively translucent and so just slightly lightens what is underneath it, therefore creating the most natural highlight! Definitely a great alternative to your typical shimmery highlights!

Personally, I think loose eyeshadows are still a bit messy and time consuming for everyday, but they're not something I'll never use! Lumiere Cosmetic's eyeshadows are amazing to work with and very multitasking, especially to people like me who haven't yet completely warmed to mineral products. On the website, you have a choice of buying the smaller pots like the ones I have, which I think is great because you don't waste money or product :)

Their colour and finish selection is incredibly wide, and they are incredibly affordable at $2.50 for 1g, and I think I'd definitely go back to them over the Barry M Dazzle Dusts! Obviously the only problem is that you will have to rely on swatches, but the photos are really representative of the actual product (wish MAC would take a leaf out of their books!) So if you are struggling with loose eyeshadows and want to know a product that could start you off, I'd definitely recommend Lumiere Cosmetics!

23 November 2011

In general, I'm a very fresh-scented kind of person - my favourite scent being Gucci's Envy Me. However, with the winter, I wanted something less fresh but sweeter and heavier, and I pulled out a perfume I'd got in May as a birthday gift from my boyfriend's parents - I'd loved it but I didn't feel it was quite right for the warm weather. Now, I've been wearing it every single day religiously, and without any diminishing love for it!

Paco Rabanne Lady Million

Top Notes:

Neroli, bitter orange, raspberry.

Middle Notes:

Orange flower absolute, arabian jasmine absolute.

Base Notes:

Honey, patchouli.

First of all, the packaging is to die for. It is a lot bigger than it has to be, but the 30mL bottle is small enough to fit in your fist, and pulling it out of my bag is definitely one of the delights of this little gem! It's such a bold yet classy look - I love it! My only concern (here comes to eco-warrior) - what a waste once it's done! :(

The scent is one that is very heavy, but not sickly sweet, musky nor spicey - it's just a really heavy fruity scent. I think it's one of those scents that few people would find offensive or unlikeable, because as a person who generally likes fresh scents, this is still a do-able winter smell.

Aside from the scent, my favourite part about this perfume is that it literally lasts throughout the day. I do carry it just in case, but the most I've sprayed on is twice in one day. I imagine it's one that you don't notice yourself too much! Sometimes when I'm getting cozy warm, I can catch a whiff of it wafting from my neck and scarf area :)

It's definitely one worth a sniff, especially for those like me who are quite new to perfumes, not sure what you quite like, what's appropriate etc., etc., Personally, this is undoubtedly my winter HG perfume, and it has joined the ranks of "perfumes I always want a bottle of" with my Gucci Envy Me :)

At the moment you can get this from Debenham's with 20% off and free shipping with the code SHBC :)

Have you tried this perfume?

What's your HG winter scent?

<3yu

P.S. I hope you guys liked Roseanne visiting my blog yesterday! If you haven't seen her lovely winter tutorial on my blog yet, check it out here!

22 November 2011

Yu and I have decided to do our first beauty blog collaboration together! We decided that since I’m currently in Australia and it’s approaching summer and since Yu is in London and it’s approaching winter, we decided that I would do a fall/winter make-up tutorial for you and Yu would do a beautiful bronze look for Summer on my blog! My name is Roseanne and you can check out my hood at http://www.roseannetangrs.com :D

Whenever I think of fall and winter, I automatically think of pumpkin pies, beautiful fall leaves in a pile of red, golds and yellows. The beautiful colors of fall inspired me to do this look, which is great for everyday or those awesome Thanksgiving parties you’ll be having. Here we go! I’m also going to be using primarily the Urban Decay Naked Palette so if you’re looking for a tutorial on how to use this, look no further!

Step 1: Start Bare. I put it my contacts in just to mimic the leaves of the fall. I already have my foundation routine down pat.

Step 2: Apply your eye-primer. I’m using the Face of Australia Eye Primer in Matte although the UDPP would do great!

Step 3: Gather a frosty cranberry on your brush - or the shade in “Toasted” from the Urban Decay Naked Palette.

Step 4: Apply this frosty cranberry all over the lid

Step 5: Using a fluffy brush like the MAC 217, take a matte brown or “buck” on the brush

Step 6: Blend this matte color into your crease

Step 7: Using a pinpoint brush, take a metallic gold or “half-baked” onto the brush